Onward and Upward
You’ve spent your time in an apartment you love. Now it’s time to move out and on to the next adventure. It’s critical to get your deposit back when you go. This was a significant financial investment, and it’s in your best interest to get back every penny. You’ll be able to put that money towards your next place or into savings. Here’s how to clean your apartment to make sure you get your deposit back.
Prep and Plan
The first key step is to give your landlord notice. You want to give plenty of advance notice for when you’re leaving. This saves the landlord time and money. The quicker they are able to find someone new to fill your place means less interruption to their finances. You could also be penalized if you take too much time to leave after your stated move-out date.
Review the fine print on your lease carefully. The timeline for giving notice could be anywhere from two months to three weeks. This typically depends on whether you signed a yearlong lease or a month-to-month tenancy.
Get Down to Cleaning
Once you’ve given your landlord enough notice and reviewed your tenancy contract, it’s time for the fun part: thoroughly cleaning your apartment. Put on a favorite TV show in the background or turn up some tunes, because this will take time.
Here are some common things people forget to clean when they move out:
- Floors: Your apartment’s floors might look clean at first glance, but they accumulate a lot of dust and dirt over time. You can thoroughly clean the floors by dusting, vacuuming, and then going over them with an easy-clean mop.
- Walls: Walls can also be an easy target for stains and dust, and landlords will check closely. Remove all hooks or tacks you might have put up while you lived there. Do this as gently as possible, so you don’t leave any marks. Go through each room to check you took everything down.
- Cabinets: Go through all your cabinets and remove your belongings. Make sure you’ve gotten everything that might have hidden in the back. You might need to stand on a chair to do this.
- The Bathroom: Do a super deep clean of your bathroom before you leave. Clean the shower, toilet, mirror, and floors. If you had a shower curtain, you can either clean it or throw it out and put in a new one.
- Refrigerator: Don’t forget to throw out all your old food if it’s perishable. Clean all the shelves and drawers to remove stains.
Take a Final Look
Before you turn out the lights and head out for the last time, take one last look around. Embrace feeling a little nostalgia. You’ve made a lot of memories here. Now it’s time to make memories in your new place, and that’s really exciting.
